BOOKS

Charles Louis Fleury Panckoucke, View of the Sphinx and the Second Pyramid ..."Vue de Sphinx et de la Seconde Pyramide, prise de Levant_ Pyramides de Memphis" Paris Impremerie de C.L.F.Pancoucke 1820-1829
Copper engraved view of the Great Sphinx between the Pyramids of Giza from the fifth volume of the "Antiquities "of the "Description de l'Egypte," 2nd Edition; black & white; verso blank. Blind stamp of the publisher Panckoucke to margin.The view shows the Sphinx full face emerging from the sand, with the Pyramid of Khafre, behind. Good dark impression; some spotting mainly to margins ,a few to image.

When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798, he brought with him an entourage of more than 160 scholars and scientists. Known as the French Commission on the Sciences and Arts of Egypt, these experts undertook an extensive survey of the country's archeology, topography, and natural history. . For four years more than 150 artists, engineers, linguists, and scientists traveled throughout the country, examining almost every aspect of ancient and contemporary Egypt. They recorded and measured in meticulous detail Egypt's topography, flora and fauna, and its ancient and contemporary architecture. A soldier who was part of the expedition found the famous Rosetta Stone, which the French linguist and scholar Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) later used to unlock many of the mysteries that long had surrounded the language of ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian expedition ended with a total military failure. The French left Egypt in 1801, with the honors of war, but defeated; yet military failure remains a significant event in the history of knowledge because it is the first time a military expedition was accompanied by a scientific expedition. In 1802 Napoleon authorized the publication of the commission's findings in a monumental, multi-volume work that included plates, maps, scholarly essays, and a detailed index.Publication of the original Imperial edition began in 1809 and continued to 1822, sold by subscription.It proved so popular that a second edition was published under the post-Napoleonic Bourbon Restoration. The "Royal edition" published in Paris by C.L.F. Panckoucke from 1820-1830.